


Antarctica

by Starstorme



Category: Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 15:29:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16244522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starstorme/pseuds/Starstorme
Summary: Upon walking into a Decepticon trap, the Autobots face a slow and painful offlining in the icy conditions of the coldest continent on Earth.





	1. Goodbye

 

Prowl hung upside down from the ceiling, watching as the ruckus unfolded below him. Bumblebee had been making a kite, resulting in a piece of sticky tape getting stuck to his foot. The yellow minibot had then crashed into Bulkhead, who jumped up, startled, and knocked over a few tubs of paint, which crashed down onto the floor. Optimus had chosen that moment to walk into the room, and slipped on the paint, gliding around the room before landing in a chair. Ratchet had advanced into the room with a mop, and began cleaning up while Bumblebee and Bulkhead continued dancing around. Prowl sighed, irritated that he couldn't meditate with all the noise erupting from below.

"Decepticon attack on Sumdac Towers!" announced Teletraan-1 suddenly, making Optimus and the rest of his team look up (or, Prowl's case, down).

"That's where Sari is!" blurted Bumblebee, transforming and bolting out the door before Optimus even gave the order.

"Autobots!" called Prime, turning as Bumblebee zoomed past him and raising his arm. "Transform and roll out!"

Prowl dropped from the ceiling, just avoiding getting covered in paint as he landed next to the door. The Autobots raced towards Sumdac Towers, hoping that everyone would be okay. The got there, to find the entire place covered in a blue, pulsing dome, with the Decepticons nowhere to be found. Bumblebee was nowhere to be seen either, but Sari and her father were in plain view, trapped just inside the dome, looking panicked and frightened. Sari waved, screaming for help.

"Where's Bumblebee?" asked Optimus, transforming and looking around urgently for any trace of his scout.

"We don't know!" shouted Captain Fanzone. "He touched the dome, and he's now… not here!"

The Autobots stood back, looking at the giant dome.

"We're taking the chance," announced Optimus finally, leading a charge towards the dome. The second the Autobots touched it, however, they were shocked with a strong electric current, which seared their frames with pain, but failed to knock them out. Thankfully, the pain soon died away, and they found themselves on a metal floor, surrounded by iron walls. Optimus stood up, before the floor moved and sent him crashing down to the floor again.

"The floor's moving!" observed Bulkhead.

"Is everyone okay?" called Prime, picking himself up.

Ratchet and Bulkhead chorused their affirmative replies and Prowl just raised his arm and nodded.

"Where's Bumblebee?" asked Bulkhead.

Prowl found that he had landed on something that wasn't quite the appropriate metal to make cages out of. As Bulkhead sat up, the ninja-bot yelped as he found himself tumbling down to the bottom of their enclosure.

"Ght…offngm…" came a moan. Bulkhead jumped up in surprise, making the entire cage rock precariously. As Ratchet and Prime yelled for everyone to keep still, a yellow and black minibot clambered up from where Bulkhead had been sitting a moment ago.

"Watch where you're landing!" snapped an annoyed and somewhat squashed Bumblebee, marching out of the way and sitting down in a corner.

"There's got to be a way out of this thing," Optimus mused, pounding on the walls.

"Give up, Autobot!" rang the screechy, obnoxious voice of Starscream. "There's no way out!"

"Starscream!" shouted the Prime. "Let us go!"

Prowl wondered why everyone tended to ask the villains for things they would never grant.

"I'll let you go soon enough!" cackled Starscream, before going silent, ignoring Prime's frustrated shouts.

"Calm down," Ratchet told him. "It's not going to help."

Optimus, sighing, sat down in the corner opposite Bumblebee and rested an elbow on his knee plate.

"Now how are we supposed to save Sari?" scowled Bumblebee, prodding the floor.

"I'd worry about yourselves if I were you," called Starscream, swerving just to make the Autobots' ride more uncomfortable.

Sighing, Optimus and his team finally accepted that there was no way out of this metal cage and settled for sitting around and wondering what was going to happen.

"Does anyone else realise it's getting colder?" Bumblebee finally said.

Nobody had a chance to reply before suddenly the floor of the cage fell away, dumping the Autobots into the air and sending them plummeting down to the ground.

"Told you I'd let you go soon!" screeched Starscream, before turning and flying away, making sure to wiggle his tail section at the Autobots as he left.

Optimus sat up just in time to see him vanish into the distance.

"Is anyone injured?" he asked.

Prowl dragged Bumblebee out from under a pile of snow.

"I think I'm okay," the cyber-ninja replied.

"Er, aside from being cold, no," added Bumblebee, checking around him.

"Where are we?" grunted Bulkhead, climbing out of another snow pile.

Everyone was silent for a second, before Bumblebee shouted, "I can't believe it! We're in Antarctica! The 'Cons dropped us in Antarctica and now we're all going to freeze to death in this cold and creepy place called Antarctica!"

The yellow minibot stopped and took a deep breath.

"Anyways, I can't see any way out. In fact, there's probably no way out!"

"We should keep moving," said Optimus, leading his team in the direction his internal compass told him was north. They walked for almost half an hour in silence, before Bumblebee brought up the topic of their somewhat unstable situation again.

"So we're just going to keep walking and walking until we drop from frozenitis or whatever?! Yep, we're definitely trapped!"

"Actually," interrupted Ratchet. "Some parts of Antarctica are narrower than others. If the 'Cons have dropped us on the Antarctic Peninsula, we could be able to get back."

"How would we know?" asked Bulkhead.

"There's nothing here but snow," added Bumblebee, picking up a handful of the powdery fluff, which melted on his digits.

"Prowl?" suggested Optimus. "Could you fly up and take a look?"

Prowl activated his jet pack engine, which coughed and spluttered before raising him into the air in a plume of dark-coloured smoke.

"Can you see anything?" Optimus asked, choking on the smoke in his ventilation shafts.

"No- too much smoke- I can't- Look out!"

There was a loud crunching noise, followed by a few clashes and clanks. When the smoke blew away, the Autobots found themselves bent over Prowl, who lay clutching his right side on the ground, coughing and spluttering.

"Prowl?" called Bumblebee. "Are you okay?"

The ninja-bot groaned and feebly sat up, spitting out a bit of energon. Pain was blurring his vision, but he could make out the outline of his teammates standing over him, shielding his frame from most of the falling snow.

"Not really," he finally replied.

"Your engine's busted," announced Ratchet, performing a quick check-up. "That's what you get if you try and use a frozen engine without warming it up first."

"We should find cover," suggested Optimus, as Ratchet helped Prowl into a standing position. "We can't stay here. Bumblebee and I will scout ahead. Bulkhead and Ratchet, follow and look after Prowl."

The ninja-bot certainly wasn't pleased with the instruction to 'look after' him, but didn't speak up. Ratchet supported him as he took a few wobbly steps, before more or less getting the hang of walking again. The three Autobots watched as Optimus and Bumblebee sped on ahead of them.

"How're you holding up?" asked Ratchet ten minutes later, observing as Prowl's visor narrowed in pain.

"I'm fine," the other mech replied, stressing the word 'fine'.

"Well you sure don't look fine."

Prowl gave up and just groaned in pain, reluctantly admitting that his engine was hurting a lot, and rested a bit more of his body weight on Ratchet.

"We've found something," panted Bumblebee, trudging up to the trio.

"What?" asked Ratchet, hope mixed with sarcasm in his voice. "The Allspark?"

"No," replied Optimus, following behind Bumblebee. "Just an overhang."

"How far?"

"Well, it wouldn't be more than two minutes from our current position. Come on."

Just like Optimus had promised, the Autobots arrived at the overhang quite quickly. It wasn't a very big ledge, but it was shelter, and would at least partly protect them from the icy cold.

Ratchet sat Prowl down near the innermost part of the secluded area, and settled beside him. Optimus sat down on the ninja-bot's left side, with Bumblebee on his other side, and Bulkhead on the outside.

"Who wants to play a game?" asked Bumblebee, attempting to be cheerful as usual, now that they were somewhat safe.

"We should work on preserving body heat," replied Optimus, ignoring the prospect of a game. At his words, his team shuffled closer to each other, sharing their warmth with their comrades.

"Is there any other way of keeping warm, Ratchet?" the Prime asked, consulting the experienced medic, who was taking a look inside Prowl's engine.

"Nup, no way I can fix that," grimaced Ratchet, closing the opening to Prowl's engine box. "Well, Optimus, you could try slowly starting your engines, but that would mean you're using up more energy, which means that you'd offline faster."

"You know what?" piped up Bumblebee. "Now I think we're just going to sit here until we all offline from frozenitis."

* * *

Prowl was slumped over in pain, his frame shaking as he tried to meditate his hurting engine into silence.

"Focus!" he hissed to himself, frustrated at his inability to concentrate and push his pain away. "Focus, I can do this… urgh…"

"Stop trying to fight the pain," came Ratchet's gruff voice, disturbing his shallow attempts at concentration. "Let it come. You can moan and cry all you want."

Prowl ignored him and squeezed his optics shut, focusing on the single thought of darkness.

"You're just going to end up purging your tank if you continue."

Unable to bring his cold, exhausted mind to concentrate any further, Prowl onlined his visor and shifted closer to Ratchet, seeking a bit of warmth and comfort. He still refused to cry, despite the sharp, intense pain searing his engine every few seconds and the tossing and turning of his tank.

Meanwhile, Optimus and Bulkhead were desperately trying to keep Bumblebee warm. They had all known he'd be the first to go, to succumb to the cold. His small size meant that he had unsteady internal temperature regulators, and would freeze or burn faster than any larger bot.

"Leave me," the little yellow bot whispered hoarsely, knowing his end was near.

"K-keep yourselves warm. There's no way I'll live."

Optimus rubbed Bumblebee's arms, hoping that what little heat it created would keep the scout functioning for just a few more kliks.

"That is not the Autobot way," the Prime told him, his voice strained and static-laced from the icy winds.

"I find it rather ironic that after battling Decepticons all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, this is how our lights go out?" the little yellow scout mused, before leaning back against the wall.

Bumblebee sighed quietly, and Optimus and Bulkhead watched as his bright, blue optics slowly started to dim.

* * *

The Autobots were in a sorry state, both physically and mentally. Bumblebee was long dead; the cold had taken him away, and now Prowl was quite obviously going to follow after him soon.

Ratchet had been right. Prowl had ended up purging his tank, and it left the black and gold cyber-ninja weaker than they'd seen him since his incident with a mutant cockroach that had threatened to take over the city.

As Prowl's visor flickered a little, Optimus took his servo, providing him with something to take his mind off what was about to happen.

"Hold on, Prowl," he whispered, tired and weary himself from the weather. The wind gushed around, blowing drifts of snow everywhere, starting to bury the remaining Autobots alive. Optimus brushed a layer of snow off Prowl's forearm.

"Hold on, as there is always hope."

Prowl weakly turned his helm to meet the Prime's optics. Seeing straight past his leader's false, hopeless optimism, his features rose into a sad smile, and Prowl groaned softly, his optics offlining behind his visor.

They would never shine again.

* * *

"Why don't we just let go?" suggested Bulkhead, turning his helm to meet Optimus's optics. The two surviving Autobots were leaning against each other, exhausted. Death had proceeded to claim Ratchet for its own, and, surrounded by the frozen shells of those they had considered friends and colleagues, even the Prime was beginning to lose hope.

"After you, Bulk," he wearily replied, gently grasping his comrade's servo.

Bulkhead clapped him the back in his usual way, before he, too, offlined his optics permanently.

Optimus's cold, aching systems drew a low moan from his vocaliser as he cast one long, last look at his offline teammates lying almost peacefully in the snow. He was proud of them, remembering all the battles where they'd stood by his side and fought for a planet that wasn't even their own. They had fought, even though they weren't intended to be doing so.

Sweeping his gaze over Ratchet's relaxed-looking grey corpse, then Prowl's final smile, then Bulkhead's body that was just draining of colour, the Prime let his thoughts dwell on each of them, separately, before settling on Bumblebee, who was half-buried under the snow. He just barely recalled, in his dazed processor and memory, the little yellow joyrider's bravery in asking them to sacrifice him so that they could survive longer.

 _We all underestimated you, Bumblebee,_ he silently thought. Then he wished Sari, the other Autobots in the galaxy and the citizens of Planet Earth well, telling them that he'd be watching them, without uttering a word.

Finally, Optimus Prime offlined his optics, and followed his comrades on the pathway to the inevitable.

* * *

Jazz all but sprang out of the Elite Guard ship, not caring about the icy winds that immediately hit him as he landed in the snow and took in some of the scenery. Jumping up, Jazz activated his seldom-used jet pack thrusters and lightly skimmed over the surface of the snow, not daring to go any higher in case he would lose control and get blown away. He was racing against time here; the Autobots' life signals had already vanished, but Jazz hadn't given up hope. Steering himself towards where his energy tracker had detected life last, the cyber-ninja propelled himself faster, his spark pounding inside its chamber with the suspense of the situation.

Jazz skidded to a stop upon reaching the small overhang where he suspected his Autobot comrades had taken cover from the snowstorm, and possibly lost their lives to the frozen powers of nature. He froze, the sight before him flipping his processor back and forth, his mind racing, yet numb at the same time.

It was the feeling of absolute helplessness, when one knew they were too late, and couldn't do anything at all about their situation.

Jazz, trembling in cold and grief, stumbled forwards through the snow, until he was close enough to touch the grey, lifeless corpses lying before him.

There was Bumblebee, almost completely covered in snow, except for his horns, part of his helm and a servo. His small frame was just slightly visible beneath its icy sheath, and Jazz could almost picture his large, lively optics going offline. Shuddering off the thought, Jazz moved on to the next body.

Ratchet.

The old medic looked as if he was merely in recharge, if the relaxed position he was lying in was any indication. His mouth hung slightly open, as if he had been leaning against the wall, watching the blizzard when he slipped off.

Bulkhead's servo was rested on Prime's shoulder. The gentle giant had obviously survived longer than Ratchet and Bumblebee, probably because of his sheer size. Jazz quickly moved on to Optimus, his joints already starting to freeze up. And he'd have to walk back to the ship, seeing as his engine would probably fall apart if he attempted to use his jet pack.

Optimus himself seemed to have been watching his teammates, playing witness as they each offlined in turn, before eventually joining them himself. Jazz knew he would greatly miss the Prime, with his light sense of humour, good temper and strong leadership abilitites.

And Prowl, his friend and fellow cyber-ninja, lay nestled between Optimus and Ratchet, a small, sentimental smile etched on his face. At the sight, Jazz gave a low keen. Prowl hadn't died alone, that was for sure. As the falling snow landed on his armour, Prowl's expression never faltered. Jazz knew he'd always cared, always been a great mech deep inside, and would wear that eerie, spark-shattering smile forever.

"Prime?" he called, opening a comm link to Sentinel. "We were too late."


	2. Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the fateful events of Antarctica, Team Teletraan reunites in the Well of the Allspark, while Jazz is infected with an overpowering thirst for revenge.

A figure stood at the prow of the ship, as he had done for most of their journey, its features blank as it stared off into space.

It looked detached from the world around it, in waking recharge even. The hazy expression on its face showed nothing, but seemed to radiate sadness and grief. Some would call it downright insane, as it appeared to be in a state of emptiness.

However, beneath that emotionless visor, a mind was working. A processor was furiously thinking and calculating, reminiscing on the past, concentrating on the present, and planning the future.

The figure's fingers curled slightly, subconsciously forming fists.

After their funeral on Cybertron, they had taken off again. It had been spark-shattering to see their cold, lifeless shells lying on those slabs of grey metal, being taken down into the burial chamber where they would rest forever. The citizens of Cybertron had also taken a heavy blow- although most of them had never known any of the recently deceased bots, the fact and knowledge that Decepticons were still existent in the universe, and that they were capable of such acts of cruelty, was enough to put any Autobot on high alert.

They were now soaring through the Milky Way. Tears ran down the lone figure's face, trickling down from under its visor, as the sight of the beautiful galaxy registered with its optic sensors, reminding it of the friendship they had once shared, crushed by the sentiment it now felt. Unable to control its emotions anymore, the statue broke down crying, retracting its visor to allow the tears to fall freely. Surrounded by the emptiness of the universe, it stood mourning its loss, finding nothing but memories in the radiant stars and planets surrounding it.

_Revenge._

The voice came unexpectedly, and as softly as the morning dew. Yet it was as clear as daylight, and the figure froze as it rang out.

It froze, and slowly, a smirk spread its way across his face.

It ran through the ship, hopping into an escape pod and setting course for Earth.

* * *

Bumblebee stretched his arms upwards, reaching up high and then letting them drop to his sides as he studied the metallic landscape around him. The shiny steel and crystals sent a strange feeling tingling through his frame. For once, the cheerful joyrider felt the desire for quiet, for the silence required to properly enjoy the feeling, to let the sensations come and go.

As he stepped forwards, passing a crystal, Bumblebee brushed his arm alongside it, feeling the smoothness of its surface. He observed the fascinating way the light passed through the transparent material, casting a gentle glow over the surrounding area.

Then, a rush of what humans would call adrenaline surged through his frame. Bumblebee answered his sudden need for a thrill, grinning as he transformed and took off, tearing around the seemingly never ending landscape. He zoomed up a crystal, flipped in mid-air, and thudded back down to the ground, feeling the wind.

* * *

Prowl groaned, shaking his helm to rid himself of the minor processor ache he still felt. Focusing his vision, the cyberninja found himself sitting cross-legged on the ground, a steely metal world around him.

So this was the Well of the Allspark.

Prowl had known he'd offline soon, and had felt himself go. But this was awfully confusing…

Then, a cloud of warmth and energy that seemed almost ethereal washed over him. It was a feeling like nothing he'd experienced before, and he sought an answer to his questions.

Prowl offlined his optics, entering the state of deep meditation known as processor over matter, and gasped at what he saw.

The Allspark's energy surrounded him, giving him the warmth and support he'd known he'd feel someday, after the iciness of life.

He was offline, and with Primus in the Allspark.

Prowl kept his optics offline, indulging himself in the feeling, never wanting to let go, even though he knew he'd have infinite opportunities to experience it again in the future. He simply hadn't had the chance to feel freedom and peace for so long…

Another being was near him. Prowl could sense its presence, and reluctantly brought himself back to the present.

Yoketron himself stood before him, looking as patient and capable as ever. Prowl stood up, pleasantly surprised.

Yoketron smiled at his apprentice, who found himself sharing a pleased expression too. Nobody said a word, until Prowl broke the silence.

"Master," he slowly said, holding Yoketron's gaze.

"You were right. Thank you."

* * *

Ratchet stepped into a silver landscape, with red crystals scattered around. He gazed at each crystal individually, before expanding his point of focus to all his surroundings, not used to the sudden peaceful sensation that waved through him.

The feeling he hadn't felt for stellar cycles.

The feeling of youth, the feeling of the wind.

The feeling of freedom.

Ratchet smiled, his intense blue optics glowing with pride and the overpowering prospect of eventual freedom.

* * *

The sheen of the smooth metal floor reflected in his eyes.

Bulkhead observed the silver of the ground, reaching out a digit and gliding it across the surface, feeling its texture, studying its every aspect. The more he stared at the seemingly meaningless, plain metal, the more he found beauty in it. Bulkhead traced his digit over a crack, feeling the sharp edge.

He knew this was exactly where he wanted to be.

* * *

Optimus stepped into a field of blinding white light.

It wasn't uncomfortable, and nothing hurt, at least. There was a lofty feeling buzzing around him, like he was being elevated. He could also feel a warmth about, that felt quiet comfortable and soothing, and the Prime allowed himself to be lost in the moment, savouring the sensations.

Soon, the light mostly faded away, into a steely metal environment. The warmth he had experienced on his journey remained, now joined by the feelings of purity, and freedom. It was all clear now. He was finally one with the Allspark.

The same light that had escorted him here lingered around, lighting the area, causing the scattered scarlet crystals extending from the metal to cast a crimson glow all around. Meanwhile, the metallic ground itself seemed to shine, creating a dazzling scene to entreat one's optics to.

"Optimus!"

Bumblebee. His loyal scout and teammate, famous for his playful pranks and antics, but also his incredible speed and endless determination.

Four figures appeared beside the Prime, showing themselves to be the other members of Team Teletraan. Optimus turned to them, fond memories flickering across his mind as his gaze swept across each of them in turn.

Bulkhead stood as caring and observant as usual, taking in all his surroundings. That was one thing among many that everyone liked about the big green mech. He loved nature and all living and non-living things as much as Prowl did, possibly even more so.

Prowl stood towards the back of the small group, quiet and mysterious as usual. However, it seemed that a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. The cyberninja certainly looked happier, and positively carefree. That was unusual, but a change for the good. Prowl had certainly learnt a few details about teamwork and friendship in his relatively short time with the rest of the team.

There was Ratchet, looking exactly the same as usual physically, even the grumpy expression on his face. But something had definitely changed about him. Prime couldn't quite pinpoint just what it was, but Ratchet now appeared as ready to embrace freedom as the youngsters.

As Optimus looked over each member of his team, a smile spread its way across his face.

Nobody said anything.

They were together.

They were reunited.

They were content.

* * *

Starscream transformed and landed, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips as he entered the Decepticon base, his wings held high.

"It's done, and dusted!" he announced proudly, his steps echoing through the empty cavern.

"Thanks to my superior intelligence and ability, those scraps of Autoscum will offline at the cruel hands of Mother Nature!"

The Constructicons winced as Starscream's screechy voice rang out through the Decepticon base.

"What's a Mother Nature?" asked Scrapper.

Mixmaster shrugged. "No idea. He lost me at 'intelligence.'"

Starscream face-palmed and walked away, muttering something along the lines of "If that's all I get for doing Megatron's bidding…"

* * *

"Well, we're finally free," stated Ratchet, finally ending the comfortable silence.

The team had continued walking in the direction Optimus had originally been heading, sharing a feeling of quiet unity and peace. Bumblebee wore a silent smile on his face, and Bulkhead occasionally stopped to study the crystals as they ambled past them.

Optimus observed all of his team again at Ratchet's statement, musing at Bulkhead's curiosity, Ratchet's sudden shine and Bumblebee's newfound sense of calm, before his optics settled on Prowl. The ninja-bot was quiet as always, but clearly content. Optimus let his mind flicker back to the present moment.

A deep, yet soothingly gentle voice, then called out. It whispered, in a way that was seemingly swept along by the soft breeze, that this was the Well of the Allspark.

Team Teletraan gazed into each other's optics, hearing the voice as clearly as daylight. Their shoulders slightly brushed against each other's, as they felt, and shared, the emotion of beauty and finality coursing through their sparks.

The feeling eventually ebbed away, leaving the Autobots standing harmonised, almost transfixed, in the shiny metal terrain.

"So, we're all happy now," Prime finally observed, the wind gently blowing against his servos.

Prowl gazed quietly in the direction of Earth, and finally spoke up.

"Not everyone."

* * *

Jazz pulled himself up a particularly seamless rock, and climbed on top of the hill the Decepticon base was formed in. After spending the last ten minutes scaling the hill while avoiding detection, the cyberninja wasn't as excited as he was a while ago about the prospect of a fight, but his thirst for revenge remained.

Jazz silently slipped through a hole in the roof and clung to it, watching the area below him for any sign of a trap or Decepticon, as it seemed deserted- save Lugnut sitting in a corner. Jazz quickly knocked him out with a precisely aimed throwing star, which cut into his processor and stuck there, rendering him unconscious without a sound.

He wasn't sure who had killed his comrades, but logic soon narrowed it down to a certain warlord. Common sense ruled out Blitzwing. Nobody wanted a jet carrying cargo to randomly switch into a tank in mid-air.

Lugnut would be too slow, and too short-tempered. Any negative comment about Megatron would set him off in a rage, clouding his (already somewhat lacking) judgement and probably letting the Autobots find a way out.

The Starscream clones were untrustworthy, particularly the femme one, who seemed to possess Starscream's cunning, as well as his treachery. The others were no good for a task either, as Skywarp, Thundercracker, Sunstorm and Ramjet were too cowardly, egotistical, subservient and deceptively confusing, respectively. And Starscream himself was no loyal subject, either.

Therefore, Megatron was the obvious suspect. Chances were he hadn't actually dumped the Autobots in Antarctica himself, but instead sent someone else to do it.

It was still his fault.

Jazz climbed along the roof, creeping like a spider, until he reached a section of wall that was situated directly above a door. Taking out a thin knife he sometimes took on dangerous missions like this one, he cut a hole in the wall as quietly as possible, and slipped through the hole.

Below him, Megatron sat at a table, reading a data pad. Just the sight of the Decepticon leader was enough to make Jazz tremble with silent rage, but it was the fact that Megatron was smirking at something that threatened to force him to lose him temper. Jazz forced his fury back down. The last thing he needed right now was anger blinding him.

Jazz snarled silently, plotting a plan.

* * *

Yoketron stood on the edge of a metal cliff, watching his ex-apprentice.

"Jazz… I should've told you. I should've told you to never sacrifice a piece of the future to balance the past."

His voice echoed around the valley beneath him, ricocheting off the edges and rising up into the air.

_Never sacrifice a piece of the future to balance the past._

* * *

Jazz dropped down silently behind Megatron, grabbing his laser nunchaku. He'd finish him, once and for all. He'd avenge his comrades.

That, he had vowed.

As Jazz took a step closer, however, the warlord casually tossed his data pad backwards, hitting him on the helm with a loud clang.

Megatron spun around.

"Cyberninja," he growled, and grabbed Jazz while the latter was still off-balance. Locking his servos in a pair of stasis cuffs, Megatron smirked as Jazz collapsed to the ground.

"So much for quiet," he taunted.

Jazz groaned as he temporarily offlined, defeat and self-fury coursing through his mind.

* * *

Jazz's visor slowly lit up as his processor booted up. The whistling of the air blowing against his entire frame was slightly annoying, as it caused his audio receptors to fill with static.

_Air?_

Jazz's vision immediately focused, and he promptly realised that he was dangling from a chain. Looking down with some difficulty, he found his servos locked in stasis cuffs.

_Oh, great._

The cyberninja dangled from his chains for a while, furiously thinking. He had to figure out where he was. He had to figure out how to escape.

He had to figure out how to kill Megatron and get his revenge.

He struggled to raise his helm, and managed to catch a glimpse of a pair of twin propellers.

That meant that Megatron was taking him somewhere. It wasn't good, but at least he knew where he was now.

Why was it getting colder?

Jazz suddenly developed a very bad feeling about where he was headed. He froze for a very long second, as he remembered how his friends had offlined, and his rage caught up with him again. Jazz bit his lip, and entered a sequence of Processor over Matter, attempting to unlock the stasis cuffs. It was difficult to concentrate. He could feel the air getting colder by the second, and the swaying motion of Megatron's flight certainly wasn't helping. The conditions were challenging, but vengeance was on his side. Jazz focused through the motion and soon, a click sounded.

Beneath his visor, Jazz onlined his optics, grabbing hold of the chain and beginning his climb up. Megatron had clearly noticed his awakening, and swerved, swinging the cyberninja around, forcing him to cling on and slowly struggle up the chain.

The cold air was already immobilising his joints. He knew that he would freeze before Megatron, and flyers had much better temperature regulators due to their regular hours in up in the cold of the sky. He'd have to do this quickly. Jazz was about to reach for his spare nunchaku when Megatron suddenly dived down, soaring over a field of white. The cyberninja hurriedly replaced his weapon and clung onto the metal chain, feeling the wind fiercely hammer down on his frame as Megatron swooped down lower and released his hook on the chain.

As the Decepticon warlord began to gain height again, Jazz didn't waste a second in springing up and activating his jet pack, not caring that it was frozen. It would cause him a lot of pain later, but it was his only chance to accomplish what he had set out to do.

A clang sounded as Jazz grabbed onto Megatron, taking him down with him as his jet pack spluttered and died. Megatron growled, transforming in mid-air. His servos switched into guns, and bullets of energy were soon sent whizzing towards Jazz, who dodged them the best he could- moving while falling to the ground was not one of his specialities. Pain was shooting up his side from his ruined jet pack engine, but he didn't have time to ponder the thought as both cyberninja and warlord landed face-first in the snow.

Jazz, being lighter, was the first to recover. He jumped up and took out his spare nunchaku, ducking as Megatron emerged from a Decepticon-shaped hole and began shooting at him again. A bullet clipped Jazz's left arm, but the cyberninja ignored the pain, dodging Megatron's shots until the warrior transformed and attempted to take off.

For a moment, Jazz's hope slipped away.

The next, he was up and at it again, gripping onto Megatron's frame, forcefully ripping his propellers off and disabling his flight. A small part of Jazz's processor was aware that he wouldn't be able to get back home either, but the majority was pleased that at least the Decepticon would perish with him now.

His servos were half destroyed, splattered with his own energon from the spinning of Megatron's propeller blades. It didn't matter- it wouldn't greatly hinder his ability to fight. The duellers crashed into the snow in a heap, and were instantly attacking each other again, Megatron drawing his swords and Jazz taking out his nunchaku.

Jazz lashed out at the warlord, who deflected most of the attack with one sword, but still staggered back a bit. Simultaneously, he reached out with his other blade and cut a deep gash in the cyberninja's arm, adding a punch and knocking him over.

Jazz recovered quickly and struck out again, missing deliberately and sending a snowdrift cascading down onto Megatron. Part of him wanted to stop fighting. What was the point? His friends were dead, he would die, and Megatron would go down with him.

In the brief moment of respite when the Decepticon warrior was buried deep under the snow, a realisation struck Jazz like the cutting edge of an axe.

Coincidence or not, this was the exact spot where his friends had offlined.

The fact sent Jazz falling harder and faster than any bullet or blade, and his resolve hardened accordingly.

The cyberninja waited for Megatron to emerge from the snow, watching intently. As soon as the warlord stepped free, he lashed out, blinding him temporarily with a kick to the optics before knocking him back with his nunchaku. Megatron growled, slashing out at Jazz with both his swords. Jazz blocked one of his blows, but the other clipped his shoulder. With another punch, Megatron sent him flying and falling to the ground.

As he lay there, dazily watching Megatron approach, Jazz realised that he couldn't win.

He also knew that he couldn't run away. It was the most he could do to fight- he owed that much to Team Teletraan.

Jazz disabled his pain sensors, and jumped up at his attacker, setting his fuel exertion to maximum. He slashed at his optics unexpectedly, forcing him back as he continued striking out, blinding his opponent.

Jazz laid him optics on the energon leaking from the Decepticon warlord in half a dozen different places. It somehow served to encourage him.

As Megatron was still off balance, Jazz lashed out again, sending him staggering and falling back into the snowdrift without a sound. He had clearly also deactivated his pain sensors, knowing there was no hope that Starscream or any other Decepticon would come to his rescue. Not since Lugnut had been temporarily deactivated.

Jazz stood over him, taking one of his swords. He raised the sword above his helm, preparing to finish his enemy.

"Got anything to say?" he growled, forcing the words out of his vocaliser.

Megatron just glared at him, and suddenly pierced him through the tank with his other sword.

Unable to feel the pain, Jazz forced his body to continue. He struck a series of blows at Megatron, who, being the more experienced swordsmech, deflected all of them. Jazz was soon to busy defending to care about attack. Finally, out of simple chance, he managed to slice Megatron's arm cleanly off.

Megatron roared, despite not being able to feel pain, and activated his thrusters, taking off into the sky in robot mode, wobbling. There was no chance of leaving Antarctica before his thrusters died from the cold, but anything was worth it to get away from that wretched cyberninja for a few moments.

Jazz, on the ground, scowled and forced his jet pack into action. There wouldn't be more than a minute left in them, damaged and cold the way they were. He took off in a cloud of dark smoke, using his heat sensors to find Megatron. Now, all he had to do was catch him.

Jazz knew that his jet pack was consuming his low energon supplies way too quickly, but he didn't care. He activated his auxiliary tank, and rocketed after Megatron, grabbing him as his jet pack finally coughed, spluttered and died- and this time, there was no chance of getting it back.

The pair wrestled as they fell back to the snowy ground. Megatron landed on top of his opponent, and stood up, preparing to plunge his sword home. Jazz rolled over just in time, and jumped up, pouncing on Megatron without thinking. He tackled him to the ground, discarding the sword, and tore his optics out. Megatron growled and struck out with his remaining sword. Jazz took the blow, but grabbed the sabre, and sliced both of Megatron's legs off. He watched the furious remains of Megatron's optics flicker, before offlining, his systems giving way.

A smile etched itself on Jazz's features.

"Now I'm ready."

* * *

"Jazz!"

Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ratchet and Optimus caught up with Jazz, who turned around, tears of joy clouding his vision as he saw his comrades.

"Hey, I kicked Megsy's aft for you," he informed them.

Bumblebee gazed up at Jazz's visored optics.

"Jazz… you didn't have to."

The rest of Team Teletraan stood silent, watching the exchange.

The cyberninja smiled, surveying his surroundings.

"Fancy place," he commented. "Anyways, about what you said…"

Jazz let the smile recede, leaving a light expression on his face.

"I'm happy- I'm content now, knowing that Megatron's dead. It had- someone had to do it."

As the team continued watching him, Jazz turned and let a grin slip onto his features.

"Always did want to go out in style."

* * *

Briefly noticing the appearance of Jazz a distance away, the silver mech sighed to himself and walked forwards, unsure about where he was going. This place was... nice, to put it simply. He couldn't conjure another word for it. There was a sense of peace that he could barely remember. How along ago had it been since he last felt peace?

Megatron turned and watched the Autobots reuniting. He felt an impulse to run over to them, to share in the joy, but it didn't seem right, somehow. They were Autobots- he was a Decepticon...

The feeling of peace intensified, and Megatron realised.

There were no factions anymore. There was no war anymore. That was what the Well of the Allspark was about. Peace and unity forever.

Hesitantly, the ex-warlord stepped towards the group of Autobots, who turned to him.

The black and gold cyberninja- Prowl- looked somewhat philosophical as he studied Megatron's appearance and expression. He seemed content to remain silent and take in his surroundings.

The scout, Bumblebee, was just as hesitant as he was. Ratchet the medic shared his apprehension, probably thinking about something that happened in the past.

Bulkhead looked more interested in the crystals around him than in the silver mech, but he was smiling.

The other cycberninja, Jazz, the one he'd duelled with to their deaths, seemed to not know what to think. The uncomfortable air around him gave off the impression that he wanted to end their quarrel, but was uncertain if he would agree.

Megatron internally sighed.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Bumblebee gasped out loud in surprise, to be shushed by Prowl clamping a servo over his mouth, smiling.

Jazz took a step back, as if he didn't believe what he's just heard.

"I'm sorry," Megatron said again. "For..."

"It's okay, I understand," Jazz said, regaining his composure and moving forwards again. "It's okay now."

Optimus put a hand on the cyberninja's shoulder.

"Uh, Optimus. I have apologies for you too-"

"No need, Megatron. There's no need."

"Okay. But you know, Optimus, I'm wondering- do I really deserve to be here?"

Optimus looked surprised for a moment, but Jazz nodded in agreement.

"Yeah- I'm having the same thoughts. I never wanted to kill you, or hurt you that much. It was just..."

"You're not as bad as me, Jazz, I offlined all those Autobots..."

Suddenly, they all had their arms around each other, torn between laughing and crying, as thousands of years of walls were broken down and replaced with bonds of trust and friendship. It felt good to speak out about their pains and worries, to let someone else know and offer comfort.

"You are all my children," came a voice. The group of Cybertronians looked up and sighted a robot-shaped nebula in the universe around them.

"P-Primus?" blurted Bumblebee.

The Creator smiled.

"You are all my children, and share an equal right for peace. You have all achieved as much as you needed to, and more. You have all done the world deeds for the greater good. No matter what path you chose, you deserve everything you will recieve."

* * *

Two cyberninjas were sitting on top of one of the taller crystals, observing the view from their vantage point. The gentle breeze blew at their faces, offering a form of calm freedom.

Prowl turned to Jazz, simply gazing at the older mech, the same smile that had adorned his face as he's offlined lingering around his features once more. Jazz, sensing his shift in focus, turned and returned the smile, not saying a word.

They locked their optics together, both of them reminiscing their past, reliving their moments with each other.

Finally, Prowl broke the optical contact, sighing as he gazed over the horizon line.

They were at peace once again.


End file.
